Oui, Chef

Fabulous Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken.

It's hard to think of two other words that fit so perfectly together, isn't it?

To my mind,  a well cooked roast chicken is about as fine a meal as you can eat.  There is just something about it....the tender juicy meat, the crispy, well seasoned skin, and please don't get me started about the aroma that fills the house while it cooks......it is absolutely intoxicating.

Why is it then that so few people I know actually make roast chicken on a regular basis? I know plenty of people who cook chicken regularly, either by cooking "parts" on the grill, or by sautéing cutlets indoors.  I know people that frequently make Buffalo Wings, Coq au Vin, or Chicken Fricasee, but never seem to get around to roasting a whole bird.  Why is that?

Local Organic Steak with Kalamata Chimichurri Sauce

I love my grill.  I love the act of cooking just about anything on my outdoor grill, from the freshest swordfish, to thick, fat-marbled, beef rib-eye steaks.  Every man I know is the same, even guys that avoid cooking in their kitchens at all costs.  Put them next to a screaming hot grill and they have an almost instant primal reaction to the thing.....it's like we're all back living in a cave and trying to tame fire for the first time. 

Sadly, as a resident of the Northeast, my opportunities to grill outdoors in the winter are fairly limited.  We've had such a bad spell of weather as of late, that I haven't even bothered to dig a path through the snow to my grill, you know, just in case we have a day that creeps above 40℉ and tempts me to fire up the beast.

That said, we have found ourselves doing more braising, making pastas and soups, and generally taking a break from grilled meats.  It's been all good, and natural, and seasonal, and in keeping with the proper rhythm of life in New England. 

That was, until the other day when Peyton said she was "really...really...REALLY hankerin' for a steak, and questioned if there was there anyway...PLEEEEASE that we could cook one indoors, because she really missed the sizzling, juicy, charred goodness of beef flesh done on the grill!"  Clearly, she has been working on connecting with her inner cave woman.

Happily for her (and for all of us, really) there is a perfectly excellent way to cook steaks indoors, one that imparts many of the flavors that open-flame grilling does when cooking on an outdoor grill.  There are two keys to crafting a "grilled" steak meal indoors to satisfy your inner caveman (or woman as it were), the first is to start with a nice thick steak (at least 1 -1/2" - 2" thick), cut from organically and humanely raised cattle.  Second, you need BIG heat.  For me, that translates into a fully pre-heated cast iron grill pan over a high flame to start cooking your steak, and a pre-heated 425℉ oven in which to finish the cooking.  Oh....and you might want to be sure you have a good kitchen exhaust fan too.

I'm a proponent of adding complexity to the flavor of a good steak.  For a filet, that may come in the form of a nice sauce bernaise, or perhaps a dollop of compound butter on top, for a  sirloin or well marbled rib-eye, it is hard to beat a great chimichurri sauce.  I was first introduced to chimichurri when I used to travel to Houston frequently for work.  There was a great Argentinian restaurant there called Churrascos, that served fabulous steaks with the best chimichurri.   The freshness of the parsley, the acidity of the vinegar, and the bite of the garlic are all perfect foils for the melting fat and earthy chew of the beef.  It is so quick to throw one together, that once you've tried it, you'll be making it a lot, I promise.

So let's begin, shall we?

Recipe:

Kalamata Olive Chimichurri

adapted from: Bon Appetit Magazine - February 2009

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons fruity olive oil, divided
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1 bay leaf, broken in half
• 1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 4 tablespoons roughly chopped, pitted Kalamata olives
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Method:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add  shallots, red pepper, and bay leaf. Stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add garlic and sauté, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in parsley, olives, and vinegar.  Season chimichurri with salt and pepper, and add a little water by teaspoonfuls to thin as needed. Let sit at room temperature while you cook your steaks, remove the bay leaf before serving.

For the Steaks:

Preheat oven to 425°F. Season steaks on both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  Brush heavy, large oven-proof grill skillet (preferably cast-iron) with vegetable oil. Heat over high heat until just smoking. Add steaks. Cook until nicely browned, about 4-5 minutes. Turn steaks and transfer skillet to oven. Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into steaks registers 125°F to 130°F for medium-rare, about 10 minutes.

Let steaks rest at least 5 minutes. Thinly slice crosswise, and spoon chimichurri over.

Macaroni and Cheese with Ham

I've been searching for some time for a homemade mac and cheese recipe with which to break Muppet of her addiction to a certain, well known, boxed mac and cheese mix comprised of a tasteless cheese powder and sad little pasta shells.  All prior efforts have failed miserably with the dish either being "too cheesy", "too dry", "too crunchy on top", or "too spicy" due to the incorporation of various seasonings.

The whole "too cheesy" thing makes no sense to me at all (I mean, can there really be such a thing?),  but I have been sympathetic to her other critiques and carried forth in search of a suitable replacement to her favored bowl of cardboard shells and re-hydrated cheese goo.  I am happy to report that finally, with the help of my very talented food-writer friend Melissa Pasanen (long-time correspondent for the Burlington Free Press, as well as a staff writer for Edward Behr's incomparable "The Art of Eating"), and Chef Rick Gencarelli, I have found a mac and cheese recipe that will hopefully serve to banish all boxed versions from my house in the future.

Bouchon's Quiche Lorraine

OK. 

This is not a recipe for the casual, "I just like to throw it together" kind of cook, and certainly not one you will be whipping up in a rush on a weeknight, but if you have any interest at all in making what is likely the best quiche on the planet, I urge you to stop clicking on your mouse and hang with me here for a while.

It also is not a recipe that you can give your kids free reign over, but it does have plenty of elements that the kids can help with, and I encourage you to make them part of the process.  Not only will most kids LOVE this quiche, but I think it important that we make the effort to train our next generation in the fine art of quiche making, an art that is still alive and well in Europe, but sadly died here in the States in the "real men don't eat quiche" days of the early 80's.  Americanized quiches baked in factory-made, soggy pie shells, with over-cooked, curdled custards make me want to scream....our kids deserve better, don't you think?

This dish is actually not difficult to make, but as with every recipe Chef Thomas Keller creates, it IS exacting, and therein lies its brilliance.  Keller is not one of those chefs who lives on the bleeding edge of culinary adventure, like Heston Blumenthal, Feran Adria, or Grant Achats.  These guys make their livings pushing the edge of the envelope with regard to cooking technology and high tech ingredients, that allow them to reconstruct food in ways that leave diners giddily questioning what exactly it was they just ate. 

In contrast, what Keller does better than anyone else is rip classic dishes down to their most basic elements, and then reconstruct them using only the finest ingredients, and with such a finely honed and thoughtful technique, that the end result is a dish that is instantly recognizable for what it is, but is of a quality that has been elevated almost beyond measure.  When finished, you will immediately recognize this dish as a quiche, but what you will have created will make every other quiche you have tasted seem like a cheap, plastic imitation.  Successfully creating this dish will not require technical wizardry on your part, but it will require a tight eye on a few key details.  The rewards for your vigilance will be ample, I assure you.  You game?.....Then let's go.

Farmer's Market Cheddar Melt

This open faced sandwich was inspired by a trip to our local farmer's market the other day. While there we bought a loaf of delicious whole grain bread, some locally cured ham, organic apples, some sharp cheddar cheese, late season arugula, and a nice little acorn squash (although a sweet potato would have worked equally as well, I think). In keeping with these local New England flavors, we added some maple syrup and a tangy cranberry chutney to the dish. I love the contrasting flavors and textures of the sandwich, the peppery arugula along side the sweet squash and smokey ham, the gooey cheese juxtaposed with the crisp apple, and all of it popped by the tangy cranberry chutney. 

Tell me, what kid wouldn't like a sandwich with sweet fruit in the middle, and gooey cheese melted all over the top of it.  This sandwich would be delicious with a bowl of Butternut Squash Soup with Apple Cider Cream!

Enjoy - Steve

Recipe:

(Print Friendly Version)

Ingredients:

Whole Grain, artisan baked bread

Smoked ham, locally cured, thickly sliced

Roasted acorn squash, smashed

Organic honey-crisp apples, cored and sliced (or any other local apple you have handy)

Vermont, sharp cheddar cheese


Arugula

Whole grain mustard

Cranberry chutney

Method:

• Preheat oven to 400℉
• Split acorn squash in half, top to bottom, and scoop out the seeds.  Please 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup in the cavity of each half, and place in a baking dish .  Sprinkle the squash with kosher salt, and pour a little water into the dish to keep the skins from burning and sticking to the bottom.  Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour (or longer if you have a big squash)
• Remove the squash from the oven and let cool.  When cool enough to handle, scoop the insides into a bowl and mash with a fork, making sure the butter and maple syrup is evenly distributed, check for seasoning and set aside.
• Set your oven to broil.
• Cut a thick slice of the bread and toast it.  Build your open faced sandwich starting with the mustard, then the sliced apples, the smashed squash, the arugula, the ham and finally the cheese.  Place the sandwich on a sheet tray and pop under the broiler, cook until the cheese is bubbling and starting to brown.
• Remove from the oven and serve with a big spoonful of cranberry chutney (I have a great recipe I'll share in a future post), some squash soup, or a simple green salad.

 

The Chef's Table - Richard Garcia of Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro

I had the pleasure of making Chef Richard Garcia's acquaintance through a friend of mine at the Chef's Collaborative, and I am so glad that she recommend I give him a call.  Not only is Richard a terrific chef, but he is very engaged in the food world outside of his restaurant, with a particular interest in making sure our kids have access to high quality, healthy food at school, and that they all learn about cooking and making good food choices from an early age.  He's my kind of guy.

We met a couple of Fridays ago on a snowy (can you believe it?) morning at Patriot Place in Foxboro, where his restaurant is located.  It was early and he was working alone, putting time into the dish that he would be serving at the Chef's Collaborative fund raiser that we attended that Sunday.  He is a very approachable guy, and immediately made me feel at home as we sat at a table nestled among his restaurant's outstanding wine collection.

Rich and Spicy Applesauce

When the boys returned from a visit to their grandparent's house in VT. last weekend with a 1/2 bushel bag of fresh from the tree, organically grown apples, it could only mean one thing....time for some homemade applesauce!  Making your own applesauce is so easy to do, and the quality of the end product so far better than ANYTHING you can buy in a store, that we haven't bought a jar of applesauce in many years.

Chefs Collaborative Celebrates!

My wife and I had a blast Sunday night at the Chefs Collaborative's "Seasonal Celebration" held at The Regatta Bar in Cambridge.  I have been a member of the Collaborative for a couple of years now, and never miss an opportunity to join with member chefs and farmers as they work together to create magical food from our local, sustainable bounty.

Chefs Collaborative works with chefs, farmers and the greater food community to celebrate local foods and foster a more sustainable food supply.  Through their actions, they encourage their members to embrace seasonality, preserve diversity and traditional practices, and support local economies.  By providing member chefs with the tools necessary to make sustainable purchasing decisions, and then connecting these chefs with local, sustainable food producers, the Collaborative does a great deal to advance the health of local food economies nationwide.

Sunday's event was special in that it celebrated our region's RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions) Grow-out, in which twenty-eight farmers and thirty-five chefs in Boston, MA; Portsmouth, NH and Providence, RI, participated this year.  Each farmer grew some of the sixteen varieties of regionally significant, heirloom vegetables chosen for the project.  Seeds were donated to the project by Seed Savers Exchange, Fedco Seeds, and Old Sturbridge Village.  Farmers “grew out” these seeds and participating chefs bought the produce, and featured them on their menus.

Friends and supporters of the Collaborative packed the room on Sunday, and were treated to dozens of creative dishes, all featuring local "heirloom" RAFT produce.  There was a delicious Boston Marrow Squash Flan from Chef Richard Garcia and his team at Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro, and a fabulous Smoked Taylor Bay Scallop with Caramelized Onion Risotto, all topped with a fresh Pickled Pumpkin Salad from Peter McCarthy and the gang at EVOO.

This year's event allowed the chefs to set up their cooking stations along the perimeter of the main room so that they could meet and greet the guests, and answer questions we all had about the treats they had produced, a definite improvement over last year's event, where the poor fellas (and ladies) were all locked in the kitchen, well out of reach of their fans.  Quel dommage!

For all of you committed to eating locally grown, sustainably produced food, and would like to help facilitate the bringing together of like minded chefs and farmers, I encourage you to check-out and support my friends at Chefs Collaborative.  It is a terrific organization doing great work for local food communities across the country.

Cheers - Steve

The Chef's Table - Peter McCarthy of EVOO Restaurant

I am excited to be writing today's post, because it marks the first installment of a new feature that I am calling “The Chef’s Table”.  In it, I will profile a real honest to goodness chef (not just someone who plays one on TV, like me) who is also a parent.  I’ll ask my guest to not only opine on their food philosophy, but also on how they bring that thinking home, and what important food lessons they hope to pass on to their kids. 

I recently had a chance to chat with Peter McCarthy, the award winning chef/owner of EVOO Restaurant in Somerville, MA..  EVOO, an acronym for Extra Virgin Olive Oil, serves eclectic, New American cuisine, and was named best Eclectic restaurant in Boston in the 2007/2008 Zagat Guide!

Peter graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in November, 1987 where he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by his graduating class. Just out of CIA, Peter began working at the Bostonian Hotel, where he worked his way through the ranks and was promoted to Executive Chef in 1993, a post once held at various times by Jasper White, Lydia Shire, and Tony Ambrose....talk about big shoes to fill.  During his tenure, the restaurant received numerous awards and much acclaim, including a 1995 vote by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as one of the Top Fifty Restaurants in America. In 1997, the James Beard Awards selected Peter as one of "America's Great Hotel Chefs." In 1997, he left the Bostonian to pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant. Peter and his wife Colleen opened EVOO ten months later.  In September, 2004, they opened their second restaurant, the very popular, Arlington-based Za, which offers an EVOO spin on pizza and salad.

Soup au Pistou

This is a dish that may not be a home-run with very young kids because its absolutely packed with veggies (YUK, what are you trying to do, poison me?), but its easy, flavorful, and can provide plenty of room for creativity for your budding teenage cooks.  Soup au Pistou is a traditional Provencal dish that is made in as many different ways as there are cooks who make it.  Loosely speaking, it is a summer vegetable soup served with a blast of fresh pesto, and many serve it, as I do, with a pesto topped crouton floating on top as well.

This is a great soup to make on your local Farmer's Market day.  If you can, bring the kids with you to meet the farmers who grow your local veggies, and let them choose some of the bounty that will find its way into the soup.  There are no hard and fast rules as to what to include, and in fact, every time I make it, I end up with a distinctly different soup in the end.  As long as you buy the freshest veggies you can get your hands on, and work to include a variety of color and texture in your choices, you'll have a beautiful, fresh and satisfying soup in the end.  If you use a store bought chicken stock, make sure it is a low sodium brand, and if you have the time, allow an hour at the start to infuse it with some aromatics to add a little more interest and depth to your soup.

Peyton missed the trip to the Farmer's market this time around, but was fully up to the task of practicing her knife skills (which are really coming along) by prepping our mise of chopped, sliced, and diced veggies.  While she was busy doing her ginsu thing, I crafted a little sachet that included, white peppercorns, anise seed, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary, and set it steeping in our barely simmering store bought stock.  The finished soup is delicious hot or cold, with a crusty bread as accompaniment. 

Recipe:

Soup au Pistou

By: Steve Dunn

(Print Friendly Version)

Ingredients:

1 16 ounce can of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

1 medium onion, finely diced

1 large carrot, cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch dice

1/4 pound green beans, cut into 1 inch lengths

10 leaves of swiss chard or kale, sliced into 1/2" thick ribbons

1/2 cup of shelled peas

2 cups of tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

2 ears of corn, kernels cut from the cob

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced into rounds (on a  Kyocera Adjustable Mandoline Slicer, Red , if you have one)

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 cups water

EVOO

Salt and Pepper

Basil Pesto

aromatics - 1 stem fresh rosemary, 3 stems fresh thyme, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 1 teaspoon anise seeds

Method:

Place chicken stock and water in a sauce pan over low-medium heat.  Add the aromatics tied in a cheese cloth bundle, and simmer for 1 hour.  Remove the bundle and reserve the stock.

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy bottomed soup pot over low-medium heat.  Add the onion and carrot and saute 15 minutes to soften.  Raise the heat to medium, and add the green beans, zucchini, cannelini beans, tomatoes, and chicken stock to the pan, and cook 10-15 minutes.  You want the soup at a simmer, not a rolling boil.  Add the corn, peas, and swiss chard and cook for another 5 minutes.  Check seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle into warm bowls and top with a spoonful of fresh pesto.  You can also make a crouton by taking a slice of baguette, topping it with some gruyere cheese, and toasting it under the broiler.  Spoon some pesto onto the crouton and float it on top of your soup.  Oh, la, la.

Serves 6